Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Ode To Jason

I like feel-good stories, especially when it comes to kids. We get enough of the bad stuff. Teenage pregnancy, drug use, vandalism, gang warfare- those things dominate our news broadcasts. Every so often, the networks run something to restore my faith in the youth of today as well as athletics, which have degenerated into the chasing of money and ME! ME! ME! I could try to explain the news clip I am asking you to view but my words can't do it justice. My feeble attempts at commentary would only mess it up. The term gospel, as used in the Bible, is translated GOOD NEWS. In a secular sense, this film clip is good news. I have watched it seven or eight times and I still find myself drawn to the computer screen. In a detour from my announced lesson plans, I have had my classes crowd and squeeze around my teacher's desk to take in this 2 minute, 44 second piece. One girl said she got goose bumps- she must have been contagious. It's these kind of cinderella tales that keep hope alive that education and sports cannot only co-exist but on that most special of circumstances, lift an entire community and bestow on one child the feeling of belonging that most 'normal' people take for granted. And when you are ready to blow off the younger generation of Americans, take a very close look at those kids in the bleachers and on the bench and tell me there is no hope for our country. God bless you, Jason McElwain.

Applicable quote of the day:
"The thing about Jason is that he isn't afraid of anything. He doesn't care what people think about him. He is his own person."
David McElwain, Jason's father

God bless,
Steve
(Proud to be a coach today)
Luke 18:1
www.abctheword.com
e-mail me at
steve@abctheword.com

To view the CBS story on Jason, click on http://youtube.com/watch?v=UBYPaNc57Ik&search=autism%20basketball

No comments: